4 Apr 2016

Ever since it emerged that Liverpool rejected the chance to sign Spurs sensation Dele Alli, a succession of ex-Reds have bemoaned the club's decision to pass on the deal, and Steven Gerrard is the latest Anfield legend to hail the 19-year old's potential.

In his weekend column for The Telegraph, Gerrard confirmed that Liverpool 'failed to sign Alli' despite being 'favourites' to seal the deal, and further enthused:

"I’ve taken an interest in Alli's career, and I'm seriously impressed. I like his football arrogance...and I like that touch of nastiness he has, where he will bully opponents rather than let himself be bullied".

Alli - described by Harry Redknapp as an 'amazing buy' - had a largely ineffective games against Liverpool at the weekend, but the media continue to clamour for his inclusion in Roy Hodgson's Euro 2016 squad. On that subject, Gerrard added:

"I am loving watching Alli play, but I'm less enthusiastic about the idea we should prematurely dump established internationals...on the basis of a couple of friendlies".

I disagree with Gerrard here. England should dump established internationals who've utterly failed to make a difference over the last few years. Get rid of Lallana, Hart, Cahill etc, and also rid the squad of the last remnants of the laughably-labelled 'Golden Generation', i.e. Wayne Rooney.

With Sturridge, Kane, and Vardy in the squad, Rooney isn't needed by England. Plus, he's been injured for ages, so he probably won't even be match-fit for Euro 2016. England have no chance of winning the tournament, so just blood the next generation, and scrap players like Rooney, Lallana etc, who've repeatedly failed on the international stage.

For the first time in years, the current England team has no massive egos and/or alleged 'world-class' players dragging it down. Serial underachievers like Gerrard, Lampard et al have been replaced by comparatively unknown and/or lower profile players (like Alli, for example) and the team is arguably benefiting from that.

Not that it makes any difference overall - England will still crash and burn at Euro 2016, and as usual, it will be a joy to behold :-)